AirBNB provided cutlery and cutting boards (Granite cutting boards!)

J

JBoone

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My family stays in Airbnb houses when we vacation. The last 2 places that we stayed both had granite cutting boards with a note to not cut on the countertops and use the provided granite cutting boards.

You can imagine what shape the provided kitchen knives were in. These were cheap knives but totally not usable in their current condition. I am not sure that the edges were much sharper than the spines :)
I always bring at least one chefs knife and an additional all around fixed blade for fish at the beach that can also double for kitchen duty (mostly a Santoku paired with a Spiderco waterway). Also bring a cutting board.

Not necessarily blaming the owners, they don't want people cutting straight on their granite countertops and I am sure they are not worried about the cheap provided knives. But is still makes me cringe. Who uses granite as a cutting board and why are these even a thing?
I would think that setting out a couple of plastic ones would be sufficient.
 
We stayed in the Airbnb, the wife's family and I recently to a trip in Oregon
They had a henckles set already provided with about half the knives missing, (they walked off with past customers) they were nothing to scream about,l, however a knife's job is to cut, and that they did, in a way.
They also had granite counters but had a cutting board by the cooking range. I brought a backpack full of opinels but we all used the cutlery provided cause it was there and it still creased foodstuffs into submission
 
Vacation rentals are notorious for having lousy kitchen equipment, knives in particular. I bring my own.
 
I don't rent, but do let people I know stay at my spare cabin that sits on a sunny knoll back up the river. The bathroom is an outhouse. The running water is the creek. Electricity is two solar panels. But it's warm and dry. And the rainforest scenery and solitude is killer.

However, I do have a really nice end-grain maple cutting board and a block full of high-end Japanese knives. People always comment on that.
 
Went to my mother's house last year and was aghast to see her cutting against a glass cutting board. I guess an argument can be made that it's non-porous and very easy to sanitize but... yikes, for many reasons.
 
At the very least always bring a sharpener along; I like the DMT DiaFold compact/performance wise.

When I leave, the knives are guaranteed to be sharper than when I arrived, and the next guest will either be pleasantly surprised or deeply cut.
 
Most peoples' kitchens are frankly a nightmare- not the decor that's entirely subjective- possibly the hygiene though.... They usually contain truly horrible knives and if there is a decent knife around it likely gets tormented. Monstrous cutting boards as mentioned by the OP, thrown into sinks, left in water, put in dishwashers :eek: then some hideous pull through type sharpener, chucked into a drawer, constantly dropped- horrendous!

When staying elsewhere or even visiting friends I take a small carbon folding knife or my favourite paring knife with me, keeps me sane.😂
 
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